Psychopathy Scores Predict Recidivism in High-risk Youth: A Five-year Follow-up Study

Corey H Allen; Aparna R Gullapalli; Michaela Milillo; Devin M Ulrich; Samantha N Rodriguez; J Michael Maurer; Eyal Aharoni; Nathaniel E Anderson; Carla L Harenski; Gina M Vincent; Kent A Kiehl

doi:10.1007/s10802-024-01169-x

Psychopathy Scores Predict Recidivism in High-risk Youth: A Five-year Follow-up Study

Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2024 Feb 26. doi: 10.1007/s10802-024-01169-x. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106-4188, USA. callen@mrn.org.
² The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106-4188, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois - Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5010, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5010, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Law & Psychiatry Program and Implementation Science & Practices Advances Research Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 222 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA, 01545, USA.

PMID: 38407775
DOI: 10.1007/s10802-024-01169-x

Abstract

Psychopathic traits have been associated with rearrest in adolescents involved in the criminal legal system. Much of the prior work has focused on White samples, short follow-up windows, and relatively low-risk youth. The current study aimed to evaluate the utility of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) for predicting general and violent felony recidivism in a large sample of high-risk, predominantly Hispanic/Latino, male adolescents (n = 254) with a five-year follow-up period. Results indicated higher PCL:YV scores and lower full-scale estimated IQ scores were significantly associated with a shorter time to felony and violent felony rearrest. These effects generalized to Hispanic/Latino adolescents (n = 193)-a group that faces disproportionate risk of being detained or committed to juvenile correctional facilities in the U.S. These results suggest that expert-rated measures of psychopathic traits and IQ are reliable predictors of subsequent felony and violent felony rearrest among high-risk male adolescents.

Keywords: Delinquency; Impulsivity; Juvenile; Psychopathy; Rearrest; Violence.

Abstract

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